I think 3rd edition is going to be your friend, there. The rules are comprehensive enough to cover nearly anything you can imagine, but not cumbersome enough to slow down the game (once you get the hang of them - it might be kinda slow at first).

Once again, 3rd will be your friend here. Only one of you really needs the books. The rest can use the SRD to look up the specific things they need to know.

Really, you could do it without the books, but I think it would be very difficult to learn without them.

Um..... lol.

4th isn't really that bad. It just requires something of a different paradigm than 3rd. The rules are all focused on combat, but that actual encourages roleplaying, from my experience, because the players don't feel constrained by rules when they are not fighting.

minimum books for 3e:

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Masters-Guide-Rulebook-Dungeons/dp/078691551X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

http://www.amazon.com/Players-Handbook-Rulebook-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786915501/ref=pd_sim_b_2

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Manual-Rulebook-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786915528/ref=pd_sim_b_2

also recommend picking up one more monster book, but it's not absolutely necessary. As I said, ideally everyone has a players handbook, but you *can* share (a bit harder over skype, but not impossible provided you have a good webcam). DM is the only one that needs the DM book and monster manuals (in fact, general players should be FORBIDDEN from using the monster manuals during play).

Any game where the DM hasn't fully read the core books is going to end up pretty [censored] IMO.

The best Pen & Paper game would be D&D 3rd Edition, in your opinion? What does D&D allow in terms of races and settings? Flexibility is key.

If the gamemaster knows the rules and cuts out everything that s/he thinks isn't necessary for fun and then is willing to explain the rules to everyone, which is easier if done in group, no P&P game is probably too hard to just play. Every P&P game has lots of rules, some more, some less, http://www.retroroleplaying.com/content/microlite20-rpg-collection, but you can always leave out all but the core of a game. GURPS can probably give the widest selection of rules and also the most complicated, if you want.

I always found if the price is a difficult subject then get everyone in the group to share buying books, it was what many groups ive been in have done, theres not to many RPG's i havent played and it can get very expensive. Personally i dont play the miniature rules i dont find a need for them, RPG,s are games of imagination not miniature games, if i wanted to play miniatures id play something from games workshop or such.

Pretty much anything. For settings there are even expansion books specifically for different settings, but they aren't absolutely necessary (monster books that include canon monsters from those settings would probably be advisable if they aren't in the core monster manual). Races galore, more added in expansions.

I agree there. I'm not buying miniatures. My friend already spends enough on miniatures for Warhammer 40K as is, anyway.

Hey, might be some time since I've played 3rd edition of D&D and might remember some things quite wrong, but I've played 4th edition and Pathfinder and know they are very "tile-heavy", playing without them would cut out a lot of the content meant for the game. And there is no need to be rude

Yeah, 4th is heavy on it, and that's why 4E svcks

3E4life

Well, your best bet as far as D&D goes. The best game is a bit of subjective question. There are many different games to cater to many different tastes. I've always felt that 3rd edition has a good sampling of just about everything, and is really easy to tinker with to get what you want out of it.

3rd edition comes 7 races standard (human, dwarf, elf, half-elf, halfling, gnome, and half-orc) and a variety of established settings, although making your own is highly recommended.

That's why you should commit them to memory. Yes, I am a DM's worst nightmare.

Oy vey. You are making me remember all the old-timers who used to go on and on about how 3rd edition was awful because it only had three saving throws and you needed high ac instead of low. This new thing, it is bad.

3.5 can easily have the miniatures combat rules removed and it makes no real difference, it anything it shortens over lengthy combats and, what i call roll over role, i am currently reading the mass effect rpg and the creator wanted the miniature rules as a part of the game, but a good GM make combats effective without bogging the game down with way to many rules, especially since im a huge fan of Twilight 2000, and theres no miniature rules and i played some excellent games without them.

I'd have to say that even thought there is quite a good collection of finely made settings, ready made campaigns and all that, I do not at least remember any that were other than fantasy, magic oriented. There are some that are a bit on the scifi-side, actually quite a bit, but it all relies on fantasy-style magic. High-tech isn't that supported, if I remember right?

Does D&D allow you create/add other races outside of those seven? Like, is there a template, or something?

That is what I was referring to. I'm mainly interested in fantasy anyway, but the ability to use science-fiction settings would be cool as one of my friends is a massive fan of Warhammer 40K and the likes.

Oh, sure. It is pretty easy, really.

The Dungeon Masters Guide does have a section on how you can easily modify the rules to support high tech stuff. For the rest of the setting, your imagination is the limit. Really, there isn't much point to pen & paper if you aren't going to be imaginative about it.

Or your friend can purchase Fantasy Flights, Dark Heresy, a very good warhammer 40k RPG, the modules ive read so far really svck, but the accessory books are brilliant, and my favourite the sisters of battle.

Are the rules just there as a guide? It's mainly just down to imagination, right?

I don't like the Warhammer 40K universe. I just meant it'd be nice to have flexibility to do some high-technology stuff if we wanted.

Most of the high tech stuff is in D20 Modern, it gives you lots of different books using the D20 open license, D20 Future, D20 Modern - Past, D20 Apocalypse, D20 Cyberscape, Weapons Locker, and so on.

I consider Pathfinder superior to 3.5e. It's also got way more support these days, so my vote is that. Also you only need the one core rules for it as opposed to the three core rules books for any dungeon's and dragons game. Though picking up the first bestiary for it is recommended.

So your going to want a few core rules for people (to not bog down character creation/looking up spells), and whoever is the game master wants to have the bestiary. Oh and some dice, pencils, and paper of course. Then your good to go. Character sheets can be found online and printed off.

Edit

I'm not a fan of "generic" game systems that can fit everything. It really bothers me since they always end up feeling so incomplete when you want to focus on one genre.

Thanks for the information. I'll have a little look online, butt into an open game somewhere maybe and go from there. But, the more I read into it, the more I don't see myself enjoying it to be honest. I think their recommendation was quite off. Gathering a reasonable amount of people is going to be a pain, organising our schedules perfectly even worse and there's also the monetary cost that will put a few people I know off. Just isn't worth the hassle to get into it, it seems.

Play by post games can be found here for pretty much any system. http://www.giantitp.com/ It's a very slow method of play and if you can find a group to play with I would recommend it. I don't get why people think it isn't for them. It just boggles my mind. Provided you have played any sort of computer RPG you should love playing them in person. You just need to take that leap of faith and try it. If your really not sure then find a group and play a few games with them before buying any books. You won't know until you try.

Edit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHVYrCKtqfM (Dark Heresy). All I could find off the top of my head, but there is much more out there.

Thanks for the information. I'll have a little look online, butt into an open game somewhere maybe and go from there. But, the more I read into it, the more I don't see myself enjoying it to be honest. I think their recommendation was quite off. Gathering a reasonable amount of people is going to be a pain, organising our schedules perfectly even worse and there's also the monetary cost that will put a few people I know off. Just isn't worth the hassle to get into it, it seems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6ALySsPXt0

It's not that I'm unwilling to try it, but even finding a group to try it with will be a nightmare. My friends simply aren't going to be interested. Whilst they like role-playing, such as Skyrim, they have no patience. A game with tons of rules simply won't suit them.